kyōgen

A form of kyogen — A form of traditional Japanese theatre, once performed alongside noh as a comic intermission.

Meanings

nounkyōgen (countable and uncountable, plural kyōgen or kyōgens)

plural kyōgens

  1. alternativecountableuncountableAlternative form of kyogen.

    The pine-music that followed featured Okina with three noh and two kyōgen.

    2004, The Ethos of Noh: Actors and Their Art (Harvard East Asian Monographs; 232), Harvard University Asia Center, →ISBN, page 111
    4 more examples

    The twenty-two kyōgen in this volume give a broad sampling of the delightful comic interludes which were traditionally performed between the more austere nō plays. Like the nō, the kyōgen are highly stylized in performance, but they are much more human and poke fun at the foibles and foolishness of noble and commoner, man and woman alike.

    1973, Leonard C[abell] Pronko, Guide to Japanese Drama, G. K. Hall & Co., →ISBN, page 65

    The judgment that early kyōgen was considerably more satirical is given further support by the discovery of an old text of kyōgen synopses, the Tenshō kyōgen-bon.

    1983, William R. LaFleur, The Karma of Words: Buddhism and the Literary Arts in Medieval Japan, University of California Press, →ISBN, page 140

    Regular performances now are usually held on Saturday, Sunday or holiday afternoons and rarely include more than three noh plays plus one or two kyōgen, and sung or danced recital pieces.

    1990, Richard Schechner, Willa Appel, editors, By Means of Performance: Intercultural Studies of Theatre and Ritual, Cambridge University Press, published 1997, →ISBN, page 181

    Where the adaptations of Twelfth Night by the Izumi family were just very short skits, in the length of traditional kyōgens, Sekine’s adaptation was fully developed as drama, using his knowledge of both Japanese and Western classical theater.

    2009, Masae Suzuki, “Shakespeare, Noh, Kyōgen, and Okinawa Shibai”, in Alexander C. Y. Huang, Charles S. Ross, editors, Shakespeare in Hollywood, Asia, and Cyberspace (Comparative Cultural Studies), Purdue University Press, →ISBN, part two (Shakespeare in Asia), page 162
Cite this entry
APA

kyōgen. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ky%C5%8Dgen

MLA

“kyōgen.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ky%C5%8Dgen. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “kyōgen,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ky%C5%8Dgen.

Source: kyōgen on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.